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September 8, 1995

Ector lost, then won legal ruling

By ROSIE FLORES Staff WriterPECOS, Sept. 8, 1995 - The dispute over the salary for
Reeves County Court-At-Law Judge Lee Green is not the first
involving an area court-at-law judge and its county
commissioners in recent years. A similar situation led to
legal litigation in Ector County two years ago that the
county first lost, then won on appeal.

Reeves County Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a budget
proposed by County Judge Jimmy B. Galindo that cut Green's
salary from $53,000 to zero for fiscal 1996.

Galindo unsuccessfully sought earlier this year to abolish
the court-at-law, saying it was a drain on Reeves County's
funds. The judge said in August the county was facing a
deficit of nearly $l million for fiscal 1996.

Green said earlier this year the court-at-law ran about a
$7,000 deficit in 1994 due to a decline in the number of
cases filed with the court.

A lower case load led Ector County Commissioners to seek to
cut the pay of its two court-at-law judges in 1993, but
Ector County Judge Jim T. Jordan said, "It's a different
situation because those salaries were only reduced from
about $89,000 to $60,000 a year and not to zero."

"Realistically, what happened, is that we got into a program
where you got more from defendants, we were approved to add
about $10 or more to each, so therefore, could afford to pay
them more," Jordan said.

Commissioners voted to reduce county-court-at-law judges
salaries.

"Two of the judges did sue the county and won," said Jordan.
"It was appealed in El Paso and the decision overturned,
back to the commissioners favor," he said.

The salaries were reinstated this year, due to the number of
cases handled by the court-at-law judges, said Jordan.

"I read somewhere that you have to set a reasonable salary
and zero isn't a reasonable salary," he said.

Commissioners voted for the cut during Tuesday's budget
hearing, with Galindo breaking the 2-2 tie. Green said after
the hearing he did not know if he would take legal action
over the pay elimination.

Planning continues on YMCA meeting

By MARI MALDONADO Staff WriterPECOS, Sept. 8, 1995 - Plans are continuing for a meeting
later this month between local community leaders and
representatives of the Young Men's Christian Association
(YMCA) to discuss the possibility of forming a branch of the
non-profit, community service organization in Pecos.

The YMCA Project Planning Committee, comprised of 19 active
community members, will meet on Sept. 20 at the Holiday Inn
Banquet Room with YMCA National Field Representatives. They
will conduct in-depth interviews with each member "to see if
we (Pecos residents) are really committed to having and
supporting a Y' in our community," according to Oscar
Saenz, Anchor West, Inc. manager and YMCA project organizer.

Saenz has already notified all committee members of the
meeting and has put together another group of individuals
scheduled to meet with the field representatives on the
morning of Sept. 20.

This second set of interviews, said Saenz, is so that "the
national Y' representatives can see a cross section of the
townspeople and determine if everyone in Pecos wants to
support a Y'."

These meetings represent the third stage of the process to
bring a YMCA to Pecos said Saenz last month. The first stage
involved the initial organization of the YMCA Project
Planning Committee and its first meeting in October of 1994
and the second stage the distribution of a questionnaire to
"movers and shakers - people that get things done," and to a
random selection of the Pecos population.

The questionnaire was designed to receive feedback from the
community on whether or not Pecos needed a YMCA and results
indicated that in fact it did.

According to a YMCA fact sheet, the organization "is the
largest non-profit community service organization in
America. It is all the heart of community life in
neighborhoods and towns across the nation. It works to meet
the health and social service needs of 13.5 million men,
women and children.

Y's help people develop values and behavior that are
consistent with Christian principles. Y's are for people of
all faiths, races, abilities, ages, and incomes. No one is
turned away for inability to pay. The YMCA's strength is in
the people it brings together.

Pecos has not had an indoor recreation facility for the
public since December, 1990, when the West Pecos Gym was
closed due to unsafe roof supports. The gym was being
operated by the Pecos Community Recreation Department, which
itself closed down earlier this year, after continuing to
operate outdoor softball, T-ball and flag football leagues
since closure of the gym.

Private individuals had to organize softball leagues this
summer, while the Pecos Little League took over supervision
of the summer T-ball Pee Wee Ball leagues.

Saenz noted that anyone wishing to volunteer to be
interviewed during the YMCA field representatives visit on
Sept. 20 can contact either him at 447-2828 or Tom Rivera at
the Pecos Chamber of Commerce on South Cedar Street
(445-2406).

The meeting which was held on the third floor of the
courthouse took up the entire morning, but was completed
without the need for an afternoon session.

Commissioners finished up their business by agreeing to a
proposal for hiring a food services administrator.

"This position has been open for some time and we
desperately need to fill it," said County Judge Jimmy B.
Galindo.

"I have a resume from an applicant who seems very
qualified," said RCDC Warden Joe Trujillo. "It may require a
modification to the salary."

Trujillo told commissioners that U.S. Bureau of Prisons
representative Tommy Duncan and Ray Beery from the Federal
Correctional Institute in Big Spring, came to inspect the
food services department and in their verbal interview
expressed their concern in reference to the lack of an
administrator.

"I haven't gotten the written report on the inspection, but
when I talked to them, they told them they were very
concerned about this," said Trujillo. "There hasn't been one
(food services administrator) for over a year."